NEW YORK – The New York Marathon will not be held Sunday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Friday, backtracking just a few hours after he defended the decision to hold it despite heavy criticism as the city struggles back from Superstorm Sandy.

The financial consequences to people who were told it was on (after reasonably believing it would be canceled) and who now have almost-certainly lost any possibility of recovering deposits or getting refunds on travel they had intended to take are going to be severe. Adding to this are severe insults by hotels, which frequently impose 48-hour cancellation penalties in NYC (which can be, for special events, the entire amount of the stay) and then you can add to it the insult imposed on your local population in that many hotels were kicking out locals who were staying in the hotels...

RUSH: ABC on Good Morning America today actually said they've got a poll, eight out of ten approve of Obama's handling. Well, I've got some sound bites from people from Staten Island and from Queens. They're not happy up there. In fact, this is gonna get worse -- much worse -- before it gets better, and now they're gonna run the New York marathon. Do you know what Bloomberg's doing? They are kicking refugees, essentially, out of hotels to make room for people coming into town for the marathon. "Well, we need the money! Oh, yeah, we need the economic...

In an act of sheer idiocy, Mayor Michael Bloomberg decided that the New York City Marathon should still be held. His decision comes despite the fact that the city is still struggling to recover from “Superstomr Sandy.” We’re talking about a city where children are dumpster diving for food, yet the Mayor thinks an event where out of town runners trot through storm damaged boroughs while being handed free energy bars and water is a good idea? The marathon will kick off in Staten Island where bodies are still being pulled from the rubble. The marathon is still a go,...